


A Prince Is Lower Than A Chief: An ATLA FanFiction

by EraserJester



Series: Sad Prince Tellings: ATLA FanFictions [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Chit Sang is Amazing, Comfort, Crying, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Found Family, Gen, Hakoda (Avatar) is a Good Parent, Hakoda is amazing tbh, Hakoda is an amazing dad, Headcanon, Heavy Angst, Hurt Zuko (Avatar), Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Insecurity, Katara doesn’t like Zuko, Light Angst, Maybe that will change, Mental Breakdown, Okay No, Ozai (Avatar) Being a Terrible Parent, Ozai (Avatar) is an Asshole, Ozai - Freeform, Ozai’s A+ Parenting, Whump, Zuko (Avatar) whump, Zuko (Avatar)-centric, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck, Zuko wishes Hakoda was his dad, found family trope, injuries, maybe not, more like, mostly from Hakoda
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-18
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:08:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24780565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EraserJester/pseuds/EraserJester
Summary: Zuko has never been good at greeting others, and it's simply a disaster, when he formally greets Chief Hakoda at the Western Air Temple, after breaking him out of the Boiling Rock.He kneels.And Chit Sang just might boost his spirits, while sharing something about him of the Forty-First Division.Expect Dad-Hakoda and Very Cool Chit Sang
Series: Sad Prince Tellings: ATLA FanFictions [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2188119
Comments: 137
Kudos: 1425





	1. Politeness Over Pride

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, so um, yeah. This is a fic dedicated to headcanons in Avatar, mostly Zuko-centric. These are things that totally could have happened during the show^^ but I am completely fine with writing any AUs if you have any! Just comment down below and I’ll read them all!
> 
> Thank you very much for reading :)
> 
> I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender (unfortunately)
> 
> This chapter: When Hakoda meets Zuko at the Western Air Temple, the Fire Nation Prince bows down.
> 
> Please don’t forget to like and comment!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so, yeah! I love Zuko interacting with Hakoda and Chit Sang, both who think "oh my goodness why are you scarred why are you so angsty I need to protect you" and future works will all be similar! I hope you like this! :)

Zuko can still hear them laughing and talking, from where he is.

He can imagine it. Sokka would have some meat speared on a stick, and he would wave his hands, exaggerating their breakout from the Boiling Rock. The rest would smile and listen. He imagines Katara with something other than hate on her face. It's hard to imagine it.

And so, when Zuko hears a twig snap behind him, there's only one rational thing to do.

Zuko leaps up, swiping a ring of fire with his feet, and lands in a fighting stands, hands in front of him and fire in his palms. His unscarred eye is narrowed and darting from place to place, until it sets on Hakoda.

The Water Tribe warrior's hands are at his side, an expression of surprise on his face.

Zuko realizes his mistake. He snuffs out his flames when he closes his hands, and they dissipate in the air. But there is no taking back the blatant show of force and flame.

"..Hello" Hakoda begins and he knows it's the wrong thing when Zuko's face twists and looks away. "I'm..Hakoda. Sokka's father."

"..I know." And then, without accounting for it Zuko does what Hakoda doesn't expect.

Hakoda has had his fair share of royal spats. He's seen how callous the Earth Kingdom nobles can be. They smile and grin and greet, and turn their backs on you. They play with your words until you don't know what's right and what's left.

And so, to say Hakoda is surprised when Zuko bows-no, when the Heir to the Fire Nation kneels in front of Hakoda, is a massive understatement. It's not just the action that makes him frown. It's the perfection of it. Zuko's head is bowed at just the right angle, and his hands are neatly clasped in front of him, while his back is still straight. It's something he's practiced.

_Why would the Prince of the Fire Nation be trained in how to kneel?_

"Oh, um-" Hakoda coughed. "You don't need to do that, please. Stand up." It's only when he utters the last two words that Zuko begins to rise, hands behind his back. His face is dark and-

Sad.

No.

Not sad.

Resigned.

—-

_Did I do something wrong again?_

Zuko held his hands behind his back as he stared at the Chief of the Southern Water Tribe. He was sure he had gotten the timing right, was it the pose? Now that he thought of it, Zuko messed up, didn't he? Of course he did, he couldn't do anything right, and-

"What's your name?" Hakoda's voice is softer than Zuko thought. It's warm and rich and deep and it carries authority. But not just that. It carries kindness.

Zuko doesn't know what to do with that.

He bows his head. "My name is Zuko."

"Prince of the Fire Nation?"

Zuko swallowed, feeling his heart rate speed up against his feel. "Yes, sir."

"You don't need to call me sir."

_I messed up again._

_How do you address a Chief?_

_I forgot, I can't-_

"Just Hakoda is fine." He forces a small smile, one that Zuko does not return.

—-

Other than the bored girl that was terrifyingly skilled with knives that Hakoda had briefly met at the Boiling Rock, Zuko was the quietest teenager Hakoda had yet to meet. He only wished Sokka could copy him.

He had suggested they go somewhere quieter. Zuko had followed without question.

If Hakoda had to identify him from a glance, he would say Zuko was a colony brat that had probably gotten on the wrong side of a guard or higher-up, judging from his massive scar that covered almost half his face. He couldn't believe his eyes (or his ears) when Sokka had casually dropped the fact Zuko was the Fire Nation Prince.

Zuko's clothes were Fire Nation red, sure, but they were worn and stained, unlike the lavish robes the Warden had worn at the Boiling Rock. His hair was messy and untied in any sort, which troubled Hakoda more than it should have. It was not in a warrior's Wolf Tail like Sokka, nor was it the Phoenix Tail he had heard of.

"Well, Zuko-" Hakoda began, and Zuko's blood freezes in his veins because he knows what comes next, his muscles tighten and he almost flinches-

"-I just wanted to thank you."

"..Excuse me?"

"Thank you" Hakoda repeated, without sarcasm. "I am in your debt. You aided my son in freeing Suki, Chit Sang and I from the Boiling Rock."

"...Okay."

—-

The next time Hakoda sees Zuko it's in the morning the next day, when Aang and Zuko are firebending.

It amazes Hakoda that Zuko can firebend, and simply not harm those around him. Hakoda has only known the side of fire that pains and kills. It is truly a mystery how the Prince switched sides.

When Zuko finally spots Hakoda, his knees shake. His firebending is less concentrated, and his steps are uneasy. After he ends his training with Aang with a dip of his head, Zuko walks past Hakoda with the Avatar.

While Aang smiles and greets Sokka's father, Zuko slips past, eerily invisible.

—-

Hakoda catches Zuko again. The boy is sitting in a tree believe it or not, and he looks just as surprised as Hakoda is when the Water Tribe warrior looks up and sees a pair of golden eyes staring back at him. He almost had a heart attack when he first looked up. Hakoda thought he was looking at a tiger-panther. 

He might have preferred the tiger-panther to Zuko.

"Good evening" Hakoda starts off neutrally. Zuko jumps out of the tree as a response and lands without a stumble in front of Hakoda. "Good evening, sir" he begins nervously and there is no mistaking the quaver in his voice.

_Nervousness._

_Scratch that._

_Fear._

Zuko's chest was rising shallowly and quickly, too shallow and too quick to be normal.

Hakoda frowned.

_All I said was good evening._

_Why's he scared so quickly?_

"I'm about to begin the night watch" Hakoda said truthfully. "Isn't it getting late?" He sneaks a glance at the campfire, where his children have camped.

Now that he thinks of it, Hakoda has never seen Zuko sit at the campfire. He's never seen Zuko enter one of the tents, either.

Zuko agrees too quickly and too obediently. "Of course, sir. My apologies-"

Hakoda would have laughed if the fact wasn't so depressing. Zuko was addressing Hakoda like someone he wasn't. Like someone great, someone his superior. And he had a lot of practice in it. Zuko's voice was dead when he talked like that, like he was a minion.

"No need to apologize" Hakoda cuts off Zuko's sentence lightly.

He watches the retreating back of the banished Prince.

—-

_He doesn't like me._

Zuko didn't look at Hakoda's pensive blue eyes that seemed to know everything. Sokka had inherited some part of that, he supposed. But Hakoda was too kind, too caring, too alien and that was what had set Zuko on edge.

—-

After a quick bit of searching, Hakoda figured out where Zuko slept. In the daft corners of the ruins of the Western Air Temple, where he was vulnerable to scorpion-rats and gnat-flies.

Zuko slept on a hard stone slab, without a blanket, so unlike Hakoda's children and the Avatar, who had mattress rolls and warm thick blankets. Hakoda suspects he knows who gave Zuko his room, if it can be called that. It looks more like a prison than anything.

Hakoda thinks he's seen enough, that Zuko is sleeping, that he should finish up his night watch, when another he finds another revelation.

The Prince cries in his sleep.

And sobs.

And whimpers things that make Hakoda's blood freeze.

—-

It goes on for a few more days.

Hakoda takes the night watch, and he listens to the Prince's broken sobs and whispers.

He thinks he should help. If it were his children he would wake them up by patting them on the back, and hugging them.

Zuko is not his child.

And if there's one thing Hakoda had learned, from Sokka's interactions with Zuko, it's this: Zuko does not like to be touched.

So Hakoda listens.

And each night, as Hakoda hears the same thing over and over, he has to take a deep breath himself, to remind him that whatever Zuko is talking about, it's in the past.

But the way he touches his scar and curls up in on himself breaks Hakoda's heart.

When he begs for a mother.

When he pleads with his father.

When he shrinks in, whispering about his sister.

"Mother...you left me" he cries one night, and Hakoda thinks his world might come crashing down. He is reminded of Kya and then his thoughts are warped. They say he should not feel sorry for this Fire Nation Prince who has been pampered all his life, they say he has what he deserved, they say horrible things.

"It's..my fault, Father, please don't..." and Zuko's hand comes up to touch his scar over his face. Hakoda had always wondered about that. He had assumed the best and thought it was a training accident. But accidents do not happen to Princes whose hearts are too large.

"Azula, you won...go away" and this little bit of sleep-talking could be interpreted as a weary brother with a sister and nothing more, but it's the way Zuko narrows his eyes even in sleep and how his fists clench, that set Hakoda on edge.

And each and every day, Zuko acts no different with his peers (if Katara can be called that). Sure, he might not associate with them much but Sokka's continuous spars and Toph's demanding excursions should make Zuko happier, right?

But Zuko stays withdrawn.

And sad. So very sad.

—-

When Zuko sees Hakoda now, he doesn't need to fight back the urge to bow or kneel anymore. It is a foreign concept, not to show respect that way to elders and Chiefs, albeit one of the Southern Water Tribe.

He just walks past, and pretends there is no tension in the air.

Zuko is not a very good liar.

He spends time with Chit Sang, believe it or not.

The two are very stoic, even when together. Hakoda has seen how they interact. It is always with a tip of the head from each, and Chit Sang will always press a hand over his heart, eerily mimicking the Fire Nation guards that Hakoda saw at the Boiling Rock. Then, they will just sit beside each other. Neither of them laugh. Hakoda thinks they exchange a few sentences at the very most, before one of them drifts off again.

Hakoda catches Chit Sang later. The man is surprisingly large, more similar to the Earth Kingdom’s physique than the lithe forms of the Fire Nation. And his height, Hakoda isn’t a specially tall man but he feels a little more than outclassed at the moment.

“Can you spare a moment?”

“Sure, Hakoda.” Chit Sang crosses his thick arms over his chest. “Do you need something?”

“Is bowing a large part of the Fire Nation?”

When Hakoda says that sentence he swears he sees Chit Sang’s eyes darken. The man’s arms tense up and he looks away from Hakoda. “So curious now?”

“Yes, I am.”

Chit Sang steps away from Hakoda. Hakoda was a long way from fully trusting this man, but they were breakout partners, after all. “Here’s an example. Bow to me however you want.”

Still feeling somewhat apprehensive, Hakoda dipped his head and bent his back in a small perfunctory bow.

He heard a whistle from Chit Sang as he straightened up. “What?”

“Even children in the Fire Nation have better posture than you.”

The insult digs deep inside Hakoda. “Why don’t you show me, then?”

Chit Sang claps a hand on Hakoda’s shoulder. “There’s at least what? Eight, nine different bows, Hakoda. I’m surprised you still haven’t figured it out.”

“Eight?”

“Okay, maybe I underestimated. I only know nine. But His Highness-“ and it takes Hakoda a second to know who ‘His Highness’ is.

_I still don’t quite believe Zuko is a Prince._

“-knows all of them. I’m talking twelve, fifteen different types of bowing and kneeling.”

“You know nine?”

“Of course.” And Chit Sang snaps into a salute, so smooth and quick Hakoda has to do a double-take. “Commander Sang of the forty-first division.” He drops the salute, albeit a little sadly. “Being in the Fire Nation military teaches you quite a few things.”

Chit Sang leaves before Hakoda can bombard him with any more questions.

Such as, how he ended up in the Boiling Rock in the first place

Zuko doesn’t bow to Hakoda again, nor does Chit Sang. But it still leaves him wondering.

Of the events that taught them to bow, and the events that forced them to kneel.

_It’s none of my business._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading! Feel free to comment down below! More to come soon!


	2. Doing My Best

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some of you might notice that this chapter was uploaded, then it was deleted. The reason is because I had forgotten to add a scene ;-; my apologies!
> 
> Thank you to everyone who read my first chapter, liked, and/or commented! I was wowed by the feedback many of you guys gave ☺️ 
> 
> I would like to address a few things concerning this chapter. One, it’s long, around double the length of the first chapter (sorry about that!) 
> 
> The second thing is the Dadkoda. I would like to say, even though I love writing about this father-son relationship, it is very hard for a teenager to open up about such a traumatic experience to someone they few as untrustworthy (at the start). I’m just saying, if I was in Zuko’s shoes, there would be no way I would tell someone I only knew for a few days about a massive scar on my face. 
> 
> In this particular headcanon I have halted the Dadkoda for a bit, but this will drastically change in the later headcanons and AUs. 
> 
> I think many of you were hoping for a really good Dadkoda heart-to-heart this chapter, and I apologize if you are disappointed ;-; but I promise I can make it up to you guys in the next chapter I write!
> 
> Once again, thank you to everyone who reads this!
> 
> **Note: the phrase “Because Zuko burned for him. For the 41st division” in the middle and close to the end of this chapter is inspired by [@turtle_abyss](https://archiveofourown.org/users/turtle_abyss/pseuds/turtle_abyss) gift for me, [Restored Honour](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24797677)
> 
> \- I was also gifted with “ [Commander Sang](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24786049?view_adult=true)” by [@jalfal64](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jalfal64/pseuds/jalfal64)
> 
> It would be amazing to check these fics out!

Zuko tips his head to Chit Sang. "Good evening."

Chit Sang always does the same thing. He straightens, and returns the bow to Zuko, then he pressed a fist over his heart. 

This particular action has been addressed to Zuko for a long time. Lieutenant Jee would do it after he finished reading a report, as would the rest of his crew. His guards would do that in the Royal Palace. It should be no surprise that Chit Sang does it too.

"You don't need to do that." Zuko has told Chit Sang this many times. But Chit Sang does not listen. 

The older man smiles. He does not have smile lines at the corner of his eyes like Hakoda. Chit Sang hasn't smiled much in his life, it seems. "Just be grateful I didn't salute you, Your Highness."

"You don't need to call me Your Highness, either."

Chit Sang ignores him. They take a seat in Zuko's room. If it can be called that. Katara and Sokka were not picky when it came to choosing a corner of the Temple for Zuko to sleep. Each step Chit Sang takes, dust rains down the ceiling. 

Zuko wonders if one day, the ceiling will collapse on him. 

Sometimes, he hopes. 

Chit Sang takes a seat on the stone slab Zuko calls a bed. He pats it, as if the stone is soft (which it isn't). "You sleep here?" There is no scorn in his voice. It's a question. 

"Yeah, I do."

Chit Sang looks away, and Zuko doesn't see the pity in his eyes. 

When they first got here, Chit Sang, Hakoda, and Suki were promptly given tents of their own. Zuko watched them, not with envy (he did not have the time for that). He watched them with something sad growing in his heart. 

"You use weapons?" Chit Sang pointed to the floor, where Zuko's precious Dao are present. 

"Yeah."

Zuko takes a seat beside Chit Sang. They're far away enough that they don't touch each other. Chit Sang is the first to speak up. 

"I don't like the weather too much." The Rock prisoner looks out the open window. Zuko had contemplated, more than once, if he should jump out the large window. "You know what I mean, Your Highness?"

"The weather?"

"Yeah." Chit Sang is still wearing his prison uniform. It stretches at the shoulders, highlighting his large physique. "It's too dry here, not like home."

Home. 

The Fire Nation was hot, sure, but it was not dry like the abandoned temple. People lived in the Fire Nation, giving it flavour and life. 

Zuko swallows. "I know what you mean."

They sit like that. Silent. 

But Zuko still prefers this to Hakoda. He doesn't like the Chief's probing blue eyes, that want to know everything. He is much more comfortable with someone who he doesn't need to explain to, someone who has already gone through the hardships he has. 

Someone from home. He had missed that for a long time. 

"Where are you from?" It’s a basic conversation starter.

"I'm from the colonies, Your Highness."

"Oh."

Zuko can look at Chit Sang's yellow eyes and think,  _you understand me_. He can take a glance at Chit Sang's scarred and burned arms and think _,_ _You know me_. But whenever Chit Sang bows, the only thought in Zuko's mind is  _why_?

"Did you serve?"

Zuko knows it's an invasive question. But Chit Sang answers. Perhaps it is because he is the Prince. 

"Yes, I did.” Chit Sang stares at his hands. They are rough with callouses and dirt. "I was so eager to join."

Taking Zuko's silence for agreement, Chit Sang continues talking. "It was a big moment in my life. I made friends. Lost some friends. The day I enlisted-“ and here he stops for a moment to catch his breath. “-was the last day I saw my father.”

The discussion of fathers is not a topic that is Zuko’s expertise. 

"..."

Chit Sang leans his head back against the cold walls. "You don't need to say anything, Your Highness. My father was a sad man." And his face is darkened, his hands are clenched in his lap. "He was a sad drunk, too."

Zuko did not know what to say. His father had never been a drinker (obviously). 

"But anyways-he's gone now, I think. Maybe. It doesn't matter."

There is another silence.

"You don't like Hakoda much, do you, Your Highness?"

The change of topic throws Zuko off guard. "Wha-no, I don't not like him" he says defensively. "H-He's just-" Zuko doesn't know what else to say. 

But Chit Sang does. "He's different."

"..He is" Zuko agrees. "He's so weird, too. I don't...trust him. That's all."

Chit Sang stares at Zuko, pain and the past in his eyes. Chit Sang knows exactly what Zuko finds so odd about Hakoda. 

And it is heartbreaking. 

Zuko thinks a father is what his father is. He has never given a second thought about his father's cruelty and why he should not receive it. 

Chit Sang thinks of a time when he wished someone else was his father.

—-

Many years ago, Chit Sang's neighbourhood, Fire Nation colonies

"W-what if the bullies come again?" Yin rubbed his tear-stained eyes with his little hands. His face his red and his hair is messy. 

"Don't worry, Yin" Chit Sang soothed his friend. "I'll fight them again, and again! Because-" Chit Sang steps on a rock, making the nine year-old taller than he already was. Chit Sang had been an early bloomer, and he was scarily tall even for the teenagers. "-I'm your best friend, Yin." His face was distinctly dirtied with ash and he smelled of smoke. 

"Thanks, Chit Sang." 

Chit Sang picked Yin up and gives him a piggyback back to Yin's house. His father would be waiting for Yin to come home. 

If only Chit Sang's father cared when he would be home. 

"Hey, Chit Sang! Taking care of Yin again?" The little old lady managing the meat buns waved to him. 

He waved back, careful not to jostle Yin on his back. "Yes, ma'am!"

She laughed. "You two are like brothers, aren't you?"

Yin laughs shyly, covering his face when the lady looks his way. 

"Here's a bun for the way home, boys." The old lady gives Chit Sang and Yin a bun that's a little lumpy-looking. She won't be able to sell it, but it still tastes delicious. 

"Thank you!"

When they get to Yin's house, Chit Sang knocks at the door. "Mr. Lang? It's Chit Sang! Yin's with me!"

"Come in!" Sometimes Mr. Lang worked so hard that he simply laid on his bed, and the front door was usually unlocked. Running a kiln apparently made one very tired. 

Mr. Lang didn't like to move much. He was a rail-thin man that seemed rather sick in Chit Sang's childish eyes. His skin was always pale, even for Fire Nation standards.

Mr. Lang smelled like smoke and clay, customary of his craft. Sometimes he would bring home a new cup or vase for his son and Chit Sang to admire. After he broke the first cup Chit Sang had learned to observe, and not to touch. 

"Ah, Yin, you had Chit Sang carry you home again?" Mr. Lang smiled from his bedroom. Chit Sang let go of his arms and Yin jumped to the floor. "We were out, and Yin was getting tired" Chit Sang explained. He didn't mention the bullies, nor did Yin. It was no use stressing Yin's father. A little more than half of Mr. Lang's hair was grey and white already.

Mr. Lang laughed. His voice and laugh were both rich, although it cut off to hacking coughs. He spoke to give kindness, unlike the incoherent muttering and whispers Chit Sang endured from his own father. 

"Thank you very much for helping Yin, Chit Sang."

"No problem!"

And so, Chit Sang protected Yin from bullies for a long time. Over the years, while Chit Sang became larger and more fearful, Yin inherited his father's thin figure. Chit Sang sometimes wonders what would have happened if Yin had inherited his father's gift of fire. 

Perhaps it was a twist of fate, that Chit Sang's drunk father retained zero firebending prowess unlike his son, and Yin's father had been blessed with firebending, unlike Yin. 

Mr. Lang taught Chit Sang everything he knew about firebending. Mr. Lang didn’t know much about fighting, but he sure knew a lot about control. Chit Sang was a wild bender, but he was a quick learner. However, there was only so much a craftsman could teach an impatient teenager.

When they got older Chit Sang began living at Yin's house for days, weeks on end, rarely stopping by his own home. 

Often, Chit Sang's father wouldn't recognize him. 

Always, there would be an empty bottle of booze on the table. 

—-

Yin and Chit Sang both enlisted into the army at the same time. 

Mr. Lang had waved them good-bye, tears in his eyes. Yin had been nervous, but Chit Sang had been confident. 

He would always protect Yin. He promised Mr. Lang that he would protect his son, no matter what. 

That was exactly what he had done. He had protected Yin and his men from the earthbenders. He had created a diversion, yelling-no, screaming his lungs hoarse, for his men to get away, while he maneuvered the fire in front of him. 

His lieutenant had to drag Yin away. His best friend had been struggling, more so than Chit Sang had ever seen him. Tears had run down his cheeks as he shouted for Chit Sang to follow them. 

But Yin’s leg was broken. So was Chen’s arm. They could not fight for long, or else they would die. And so Chit Sang screamed for Lieutenant Ni-Su to get them away, to hide them. 

Chit Sang was no novice to the gores of war. 

As the Fire Nation upper-ups tie him up and send him to the Boiling Rock the only thought running in Chit Sang's mind were his men and best friend.

Chit Sang doesn't know where Yin is, nor the rest of the division. It's been three years.

He's a little afraid to search.

But then he shakes himself out of his sad memories. 

He can't worry about Yin nor Chun, nor Ni-Su when none of them are here.

Because there's a Prince beside him, one that needs more attention than he had thought. 

"You're very brave, Your Highness."

—-

Zuko flushes a deep red at Chit Sang's compliment. "Wha-no, I'm not-" he runs a hand through his loose hair. "I'm not brave."

"Yes, you are."

"No, I'm not, I-" and Zuko thinks for a moment. "I could order you to stop talking, can't I?"

"Why yes you can, Your Highness."

But Zuko doesn't. He just looks at his hands. "I'm really not brave. Sorry to disappoint you, Chit Sang, but-"

"I think the forty-first division would say otherwise" Chit Sang drops it casually into the conversation, and Zuko simply  freezes . 

Then the stammers start. 

Zuko leaps up, eyes wide and face white. "You-! Chit Sang, you-no, you can't-"

"I'm afraid I am, Your Highness. Commander Sang of the forty-first division, at your service." He smiles once more but it's a sad smile this time. "I spent three years at the Rock. Without you, I would have wound up dead, sooner or later."

"..How?"

Chit Sang doesn't move from his spot as he speaks. "I'm from the colonies, remember? My men and I were the closest division, it was easy enough to transport us."

After a moment he adds softly, "There weren't many firebenders. I was the only one who had any kind of training, before they sent us out. I don't know where anyone else is now."

He looks up, at Zuko's face. It's twisted and there are so many emotions on his face, from anger, to fear, to shame-and some that Chit Sang doesn't have a name for. Chit Sang stands up, dusting off his prison pants. 

"Your Highness-"

"Can you stay?"

Chit Sang gapes. He never thought he would hear the silent Prince asking for him to stay in his room. But he supposes, it is better to have a scarred alley by your side. 

"Of course, Your Highness."

They sit closer together. 

"I heard that the Fire Lord challenged you to an Agni Kai after you protected us." Chit Sang points to his eye. 

"He did." Zuko's face is not filled with pain, per se, but it's a far cry from comfortable. 

"Mhm." He doesn't tip-toe around Zuko's scar like others. 

Zuko likes that. 

They don't discuss Zuko's banishment. Chit Sang knows it already. When there is nothing to do at the Boiling Rock, gossip travels faster than fire.

They do not discuss the lives that were lost in the clash against the earthbenders.

Chit Sang does not tell Zuko about the last time he saw Li-Jia. He does not say anything of the broken body, or the ashes. 

After he leaves His Highness' room (if the ruin can be called that) Chit Sang feels like his head is spinning. He feels like he's a child again, trying to fend off too many bullies with not enough flame. 

He sits against a broken wall of the Western Air Temple, clutching his face after checking that there is no one else there. He holds his head in his hands, and lets a tear (or two) come down his face. 

He doesn't know what he's crying for, exactly. He doesn't know if he's crying for the Prince, or if he's crying just because. Hell, he could be crying for his lost friend Yin. 

But it is a sad, sad world. 

And that is the reason Chit Sang holds himself to. 

He does not cry for the Prince's pain. His Highness would not like that. Prince Zuko is far too young and far too kind to bear the pain of a father's wrath and a Nation's hate, and so Chit Sang vows to protect the Prince.

Because Zuko burned for him. For the 41st division.

And he can not- _does not_ -let that go to waste.

—-

Chit Sang is a casual man in Hakoda's eyes.

He accepts the bowl of rice from Katara and says thank you. He chuckles at Sokka's joke, and laughs when Suki swats him upside the head. When Toph punches him in the shoulder, he grins and retaliates (not seriously, thank Agni). 

He is welcome at the campfire. 

Zuko is not.

—-

Hakoda sees that, while Chit Sang is a burly man capable of playing up to the brash monster cliche, the man is actually quite reserved at times, but Hakoda is all too familiar with the thousand-yard stare.

It horrifies him that Zuko shares the same stare as Chit Sang. 

—-

Hakoda still has questions for Zuko. 

But out of common courtesy, he will do so later. 

Later comes at night, before dinner. Katara is making the food while her brother is pestering her. Toph and Aang are commencing their earthbending training. Zuko is out of sight, meaning he is either in the deep throng of the Western Air Temple or in his room.

It's the latter. Zuko opens the door somewhat apprehensively, one scarred eye peaking out before widening in surprise and emotions that Hakoda does not want to identify. He opens the door, and Hakoda swears Zuko's knees wobble, the teeniest bit. 

"Chief Hakoda, um...." Zuko trails off, because he does not know what to say. Hakoda is not just another dignitary or ambassador. He is a strange man, one who has no want of bows and kneels, and so Zuko says nothing. 

"Zuko" Hakoda begins. "Can I have a moment?" As if his endless questions will take so short. 

"Oh...sure." he opens the door fully and lets Hakoda inside. Zuko is unaware that Hakoda has already been in this area at night, woefully trying to hold his heart together while listening to Zuko's sleeping sobs. 

His room is painfully bare, unlike Sokka's mess of a tent. Where Hakoda's son's tent was filled with dirty ink brushes, scrolls, maps, and stray weaponry, a stone bed is the only thing taking up space here. Hakoda spots a little corner of cloth under the bed, perhaps that is his spare clothes. 

"You...want a moment?" Zuko stands across from Hakoda, in an unconsciously aggressive pose. His hands are crossed over his chest and his legs are spread out shoulder-width, a grounding stance. 

He and Hakoda face each other, and Hakoda is reminded of the few minutes before a storm hits, before he yells for his men to retreat belowdecks on their ship when they were fighting. 

"Well, I'm just curious-" Hakoda forges on bravely, albeit a bit stupidly. This territory is unknown, the land where Hakoda is treading on. Dealing with an evasive sixteen year-old that has seen too much and felt too much is something Hakoda has never had to done as a father. He hasn't been much of a father, after all. He knows that Sokka is a good son, a wonderful son. But dealing with them are two entirely different cases. 

"-You seem very polite, Zuko." And as soon as he finishes the sentence Hakoda knows, he knows that he's said the wrong thing. 

But then, it's like something (or someone) was speaking to Zuko. The Prince's features relax but do not soften. He inclines his head, hands folded on top of one another on top of his abdomen. "Thank you very much." 

He is lying.

—-

Zuko remembers what his Uncle has taught him. 

_ Smile, Zuko! You never know what a kind look can receive! _

Well, when Uncle had said that they had been beggars. Zuko had scoffed at tugged his hat lower down his face, obscuring it. 

Now, Zuko clasps his hands on top of each other and inclines his head because that is a  nice bow , it's more of a nod, actually. But its meaning has been drilled into his head, along with many others. 

_ This angle. This timing. This pose.  _

__

_ Means you have met this higher-up before. But you are no means close to them.  _

A pretty accurate way to portray Hakoda. 

"Thank you very much." Zuko's words are distant and carries not enough weight.

_ I guess it's a compliment, to say I'm polite.  _

__

_ I've never been called polite before.  _

__

—-

Hakoda doesn't exactly have a heart-to-heart with Zuko. 

The teenage boy's mind is confusing and dark at times, and to coax information out of such a person is harder than Hakoda had ever thought. 

And so he let him be. 

"Oh, nothing much." But as he leaves, Hakoda (somewhat foolishly) decides to shoot his shot. "Just..thank you again. I'm sure Chit Sang and Suki feel the same.”

Hakoda is gone, and he does not see Zuko's forced swallow, nor does he see the tightening of his eyes. 

—-

When Zuko is crowned Fire Lord, Hakoda smiles travels to the Fire Nation to watch his coronation.

He has not lived in the Fire Nation before, and so he does not know the complications of etiquette and politeness like the civilians do. 

When Hakoda is hit in the head by one of the ragged kick-balls that all Fire Nation children seem to own, it’s not the biggest bother to him. He chases after the ball and brings the small thing back to the little boy, only to find him kneeling in front of him. 

Even though his forehead is a far cry from touching the dirty ground, the boy’s torso is parallel to the ground, his hands splayed in front of him. 

Hakoda looks over the boy, and he sees a cluster of children hiding behind one of the nearby buildings. Their brown and golden eyes stare back at him, but none of them make a move to protect their friend.

Yet. 

“Please forgive me, Mister-!” The boy lowers his head, a little bit. 

Hakoda sets the ball down in front of the child. “It’s alright.” After all, the war is over. He has no quarrel with these Fire Nation children, who weren’t even alive when his wife was killed. 

The boy stands up, and with the ball in his hands. It is now that Hakoda sees one of the boy’s peers has made his way over. One of his friends has made his way almost beside them, trying to drag the first boy away.

“Sorry, but can I ask you boys a question?” It throws the retreating children off track, but they recover quickly. 

One boy rolls his ball away to the rest of his friends, where one catches it. He watched them pick the ball up, while the second boy answers, “no problem, sir.” They  are curious about him, after all, in his Water Tribe garb. 

“Rhetorically speaking, if I were to become frustrated at the fact you kicked a ball at my head, would you protect your friend?”

It doesn’t take the boy long to answer. In fact, he answers rather quickly. “No, sir.”

“No?” Hakoda is obviously confused by the blunt statement. 

The boy who had originally kicked Hakoda in the head with the ball nodded his head in solemn agreement. “It’s my fault, Mister. Ma always said young men need to have honour, and-“ he jabs a thumb at his skinny chest. “-I’m a man! I gotta own up to it!”

Hakoda watches their retreating backs, more than a little bemused. 

He knew the Fire Nation was big on honour. He just didn’t know how much. 

—-

Hakoda catches Zuko-no, he doesn’t catch Zuko, the boy that helped Sokka break him out of prison. He catches Fire Lord Zuko, ruler of the Fire Nation, out on the balcony. 

The coronation had gone exactly as planned. No one had cried. No one had made a mess. No one had objected. 

Yet. 

“Good evening, Fire Lord Zuko.”

The way Zuko’s head whips around, fists up, makes Hakoda remember how Zuko had taken to him the first time they’d met. 

Just as quickly as before, Zuko lowers his fists. “H-Hakoda” he starts off. “I didn’t know you’d be here.”

“Well, I am. Oh, pardon me.” Hakoda bows his head. “That’s no way to address a Fire Lord, is it?”

He swallows a snicker as he hears Zuko stammer. “No, no-you don’t need to bow like that, please-“

Hakoda straightens up. He shouldn’t leave his crew alone in the main dancing halls for long. He shudders as he thinks of his men getting ahold of Fire Nation wine. 

“You did the same thing to me, when we first met.” And Hakoda laughs, but he stops when Zuko doesn’t join in. The Fire Lord gazes over the homes near the Palace, made visible by the hundreds, if not thousands of little lanterns that hang at doors. 

“It’s..strange, being Fire Lord.” Zuko looks down at his hands. “Everyone wants to bow down to me, but-“ he glanced around, as if fearful of invisible ears. “-It’s-It’s just weird” he repeated. 

“That’s sort of how I felt when I was named Chief.” Of course, Hakoda had been a little older than Zuko when he was Chief of the Southern Water Tribe. He could not imagine what it would be like if he was Chief at the age of sixteen. He hides a smile as he thinks of his sixteen year-old days. 

_ I was exceptionally stupid when I was a teenager.  _

“Really?”

“Yes. It was completely different from simply being the Chief’s son. There was so much work to do.”

They stand in silence. They do not stand together. There is probably a person’s-width between them. Zuko is still in his ceremonial clothes, and while it looks very nice, Hakoda is sure that it is not the most comfortable. 

“Chit Sang was the first the pledge his loyalty to me.”

Hakoda raises an eyebrow. “I’m not surprised. He’s a very honourable man, isn’t he?”

—-

Honourable.

Zuko glances back to the main hall, where Chit Sang is no doubt keeping an eye out for him. “Yeah. Chit Sang is a good man.”

“I know.”

—-

This was the start of a slow alliance with the Southern Water Tribe. Through relaxed negotiations, the South flourished and slowly rebuilt itself, from simple huts towell-insulated homes and new shipments of exotic goods from the Fire Nation. 

Hakoda always made sure to visit the Fire Nation with his children, and each visit entailed new things for him to learn. 

He learned how Zuko received his scar much later than his children did.

He talked with his children. With the Avatar. With Chit Sang, no longer Commander of the famed forty-first division, but Commander of the Imperial Palace Guard. And so, he learns how Zuko burned for his country. 

And that taught him to understand a little more about the Fire Nation’s rules of etiquette, to put it lightly. 

But whenever the Chief of the Southern Water Tribe travelled to the Fire Nation, he was always welcome by the Fire Lord with a hug. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like in this headcanon, Hakoda would find out about Zuko’s scar when one of his children casually drops the fact (or something). 
> 
> Thank you so much for reading, and/or liking/commenting this fic! ☺️ 
> 
> Oh and a little P.S: I did not forget about the requests I received in the comments, I would just like to get some pre-written headcanons out of the way first :) if you have any requests feel free to drop them down below!


	3. Wheeeee go read my next work

Okay, I’ve finally done it, I’ve finally placed these headcanons in a series and divided them into separate works. I also posted a new work called [Smoker, Drinker, Child](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29772117/chapters/73238664) That’s posted for you guys to read! Sorry it took so long :( but I hope you like it!


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